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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23108257">Gonna be a Bumpy Ride</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/romantichopelessly/pseuds/romantichopelessly'>romantichopelessly</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>BOTWOT [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sanders Sides (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Foster Family, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Foster Care, Grocery Shopping, Kid Fic, Minor Character Death, Past Character Death, Trust Issues, YouTube</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 00:53:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,049</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23108257</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/romantichopelessly/pseuds/romantichopelessly</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Thomas spends his first day with his new family, but expectations can never live up to reality. Finding balance and making connections takes a lot of work. It's the start of a very bumpy ride for the family of seven, but it sure beats standing still.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Familial TDLAMPR, Platonic TDLAMPR</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>BOTWOT [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1658857</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>198</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Gonna be a Bumpy Ride</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a rewrite and repost of what was previously known as BOTWOT Chapter 5. It is not necessary that you reread this if you already read it the first time that it was posted, but there are a few changes and a couple of scenes were extended. Thanks for bearing with me for these changes! Now we can only look ahead.</p>
<p>P.S. To everyone who left comments on the chapter the first time, I love you and I'm super upset I won't be able to see those anymore. ): Thank you for the support.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Contrary to what most would have believed, Logan Croft did not like silence.</p>
<p>When he was younger, Logan had been a very talkative child. He was known in early elementary school by his teachers and peers for his perfect grammar and grandiloquent sentences. He spoke about everything, all the time. Mostly to his parents, of course, as making friends with other students when you were leagues ahead of them mentally was difficult. His parents, though... They would listen for hours as Logan hopped from one topic to the next, whether it was the latest story he had read or a bug that he had seen on the playground, they would always listen.</p>
<p>Really, Logan had been a talkative child all the way up until his first foster home. Having what was supposed to be a family--even one that he didn’t particularly want to stay with forever--tell you that they chose to adopt another, younger and less annoying child… It was enough to create a new habit. Even if Logan hated sitting in silence, biting back every interesting fact or comment that came to the tip of his tongue in favor of silence he had never cared for.</p>
<p>Unless he was alone, of course, but even then, Logan used to prefer to have some sort of music--usually string-heavy classical--playing in the background. Now, especially, Logan had taken to carrying the earphones that came with his cheap phone everywhere with him.</p>
<p>Of course, when alone in a room with another person, wearing headphones of any sort was considered to be rude, and his parents had raised him right.</p>
<p>Sitting upright on his bed, his first morning in the Sanders house, trying not to look at Dee very pointedly looking at him from across their shared room, Logan’s fingers itched to pull out his earphones and blast something, anything, into his ears to distract him.</p>
<p>Dee, it seemed, hadn’t slept a wink.</p>
<p>Logan couldn’t blame him, really. He had noticed that many foster kids did not sleep soundly in new environments. However, a lack of sleep did not excuse Dee’s intent staring that had been happening on and off since the end of dinner last night.</p>
<p>Logan himself had only gotten a few hours of sleep, all of which were sporadic and fitful, which he was sure Dee had noticed.</p>
<p>Logan tried to reassure himself that Dee was just as wary of him as he was of Dee, and was merely watching him to get to know more about who he would be sharing living space with for the foreseeable future, but there was something about the look in those eyes--other than the rather unique heterochromia that Logan had noticed the minute that they were introduced, or even the rather large birthmark that surrounded his left eye--that caused the skin on the back of Logan’s neck to crawl.</p>
<p>What did one do in this situation? 5:23 A.M. was too early for any other inhabitant of the house to be awake, so he surely wasn’t allowed to leave the room yet.</p>
<p>Logan had always been an early riser. When he was little, Logan would take advantage of being the first person in the household awake to sneak downstairs and watch reruns of <i>Bill Nye the Science Guy</i> until his parents were awake. They would come into the living room after about the third episode, and Logan would watch the forth while listening to them make muffins or pancakes or waffles in the kitchen behind him. The sizzle of bacon in a pan mixed with the sound of Bill Nye explaining the science of music was a sense memory that brought Logan right back to those calm, full mornings.</p>
<p>Logan shook his head forcefully, as if it would derail that train of thought and send it tumbling down some figurative hill where he hopefully wouldn’t have to think about it for a long time.</p>
<p>Across the room, Dee’s head tilted slightly, as though he were a curious researcher considering a specimen.</p>
<p>Or a wild snake eying a particularly lost looking rat.</p>
<p>He should say something.</p>
<p>Shouldn’t he?</p>
<p>He was under no illusion that he was going to, or even expected to make friends with the other foster kids. It was far too unlikely that all of them--or even just Logan himself--would be adopted by Mr. Sanders. It was probably best not to get attached.</p>
<p>However he couldn’t just… ignore Dee’s intent stare. Logan was stubborn, for sure, but he was also fatally curious.</p>
<p>Finally, Logan cleared his throat and straightened his back, determined to at least say something.</p>
<p>Something that Dee wouldn’t expect, he was sure. He didn’t feel like beating around the figurative bush with pleasantries, anyway.</p>
<p>“I take it you know Virgil Williams?”</p>
<p>Logan could tell immediately that his question had surprised Dee. Brown and green eyes narrowed, but the older boy’s face remained impressively impassive.</p>
<p>“What’s it to you?” Dee asked, his tone deceptively neutral.</p>
<p>Logan shrugged. He didn’t want to give away just how nervous Dee’s attitude was making him, so he clung desperately to the sliver of courage that had allowed him to ask in the first place.</p>
<p>“I was merely curious. Both Virgil and your attitudes at dinner last night suggested that you were, for some reason, harboring ill feelings towards one another. Seeing as I arrived here earlier than either of you, it follows that you must have known each other prior to moving in with Mr. Sanders.”</p>
<p>There was something unreadable in Dee’s eyes. It frustrated Logan to no end.</p>
<p>After a moment’s pause, Dee spoke again. “There are no ill feelings.” The way that he emphasized the words gave Logan the acute impression that he was being made fun of.</p>
<p>Oddly enough, however, Logan found that he could not determine whether or not the statement itself was a lie. He did notice, however, that Dee had deliberately ignored his original question.</p>
<p>“There certainly seemed to be.” Logan observed.</p>
<p>“There isn’t,” Dee replied, easily, “but if you must know, Virgil and I were in the same foster home for a few months nearly a year ago.”</p>
<p>Dee spoke matter-of-factly, but Logan was a bit… shocked at the admission. Not so much because the two had been in a home at the same time, it was possible, but because Dee had actually answered truthfully.</p>
<p>He thought he had answered truthfully, at least.</p>
<p>Logan was sure that there was more to that story, but he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t be getting any more answers any time soon.</p>
<p>“Alright.” Logan commented, simply.</p>
<p>Dee looked surprised for a moment. Logan was beginning to think that he wasn’t nearly as angry and tough as he showed himself. </p>
<p>“Alright? No more questions?”</p>
<p>Logan shrugged, looking away. He certainly wasn’t comfortable around Dee. Not yet. He probably wouldn’t be anytime soon, if he were completely honest. Not with the way that the boy seemed set on lying and deterring Thomas from caring about not just himself, but any of them.</p>
<p>“Contrary to popular belief, I know when to stop. Yes, I can of course see that you are still hiding information about your past with Virgil Williams, but it, at the end of the day, is not my business. As long as it does not lead to any future problems that will impact me, you can keep that to yourself.” Pulling his legs up onto the bed with him, Logan turned fully from his roommate.</p>
<p>There was a pause, during which Logan tried very hard not to fidget with his glasses. He thought momentarily about standing and finding clothes to change into for the day, but he wasn’t quite sure if he was ready to even start the day yet.</p>
<p>Which didn’t make sense at all, there was no reason for him to be any more wary of this day than he had been of any other first day in a new home, but Logan had long ago stopped trying to make sense of his feelings.</p>
<p>When Logan finally allowed himself to look back over at the other side of the room, Dee was watching him through the strands of hair that seemed to constantly eclipse the left side of his face.</p>
<p>Suddenly, Dee looked away, pushing himself to his feet and turning to the unpacked bag at the foot of his bed. “You’re a smart one, kid, I’ll give you that.”</p>
<p>“You are only one year older than me.” Logan noted, watching as Dee pulled a few things from the bag.</p>
<p>He could practically hear Dee rolling his eyes. “Okay, Croft. Don’t push it.”</p>
<p>Logan snapped his mouth shut.</p>
<p>Right. Silence is golden, as the saying went.</p>
<p>----</p>
<p>Thomas rubbed his hands together, trying to stifle his nerves.</p>
<p>The morning was going surprisingly well, despite the fact that Thomas had slept through the early alarm that he had set the night before and had awoken to find Patton already in the kitchen, frying up the bacon that Thomas had planned on making himself.</p>
<p>It was as mortifying as it was impressive.</p>
<p>His first day as a guardian and he hadn’t even managed to make the kids breakfast.</p>
<p>He really hoped that this wasn’t some sort of sign.</p>
<p>Thomas couldn’t bring himself to feel too bad about it, though, when he realized that Patton was much better at making bacon and pancakes than he ever was.</p>
<p>“This is fantastic, Patton.” Thomas professed enthusiastically. He almost asked where Patton had learned to cook like this, but carefully chose not to. It was only 8:30, and he didn’t want to ruin this first day for any of them just because he was socially awkward.</p>
<p>Patton’s grin grew about three sizes, something genuinely proud sparking in his eyes. “Thank you, Mr. Sanders!” Thomas considered reiterating that Patton could be calling him by his first name, but instead picked up some plates and followed Patton out of the kitchen, helping him set the table and somehow feeling like a guest in his own home.</p>
<p>In the next room over, Thomas could hear what sounded like cartoons playing.</p>
<p>Patton seemed to notice Thomas’s curiosity, because he quickly supplied an answer. “I turned on some cartoons for the kiddos, I hope you don’t mind. They’re always up so early, you know, I didn’t want them getting bored!”</p>
<p>Thomas knew that the comment was not meant as a barb, but it still stung his heart. Of course he should have thought about the twin seven year olds waking up early in the morning. Patton shouldn’t have had to deal with that, especially on top of the task of breakfast that Thomas hadn’t planned on giving the teen.</p>
<p>“Thank you, Patton.” Thomas managed, pushing down the anxious thoughts. It didn’t matter that he had slept through the alarm anymore. He still had all day to bond with these kids. And a couple more before they had to return to school. No matter that he felt much less like the adult in charge in his Steven Universe pajama pants and old t-shirt. “That was very thoughtful of you. I promise I’ll be up on time tomorrow, though. You’ll get to sleep in if you want!”</p>
<p>Something unreadable passed over Patton’s features for a little less than a second before he was smiling again. He nodded without any real comment and placed the last few things on the table, frettering his hands around in the air for a moment before dropping them to his sides and stepping in the direction of the living room. “I can go get the kiddos, Mr. Sanders! You just wait right here.”</p>
<p>Thomas bit the inside of his cheek as Patton flew off to take care of Roman and Remus. Should he be worried about Patton’s insistence to take the weight of the world on his shoulders? Thomas shook the thought off and decided to go see if any of the other kids were up for breakfast.</p>
<p>Thomas moved to the kids’ rooms, making sure to step quietly as he did. If any of the six had managed to sleep in, he did not want to be the one to wake them from their well deserved rest.</p>
<p>Once he reached the hallway, Thomas saw the door to Logan and Dee’s room open, and the door to Patton and Virgil’s shut firmly.</p>
<p>After a moment of hesitation, Thomas headed towards the open door and knocked softly on the wall beside it. Inside, Logan and Dee were sitting on their respective beds. Logan had a pair of cheap headphones in, but he quickly removed them when he caught sight of Thomas in the doorway and got to his feet.</p>
<p>“Mr.- Thomas.” Logan’s fingers moved in quick, agile and calculated movements as he wrapped the headphones around in a loop before slipping them into his pockets. “Good morning.”</p>
<p>Thomas smiled. “Good morning, guys. Just wanted to tell you that breakfast is ready, if you want to come down.”</p>
<p>Logan nodded once, and Thomas turned towards the other child in the room. Dee still wasn’t even looking at Thomas. His expression gave off disinterest in waves.</p>
<p>“...Dee?” Thomas prompted, after the boy did not respond.</p>
<p>“I’ll be <i>sure</i> to be down sometime.” Dee said, an almost smug quality to his voice which made Thomas think that the thirteen year old had just won some sort of standoff that he hadn’t been aware that they were having.</p>
<p>The promise sounded suspiciously like a dismissal, so Thomas nodded and stepped back. Logan began following him out the door, and in a split second decision, Thomas poked his head back inside the room to look at Dee. “Looking forward to it.” He added.</p>
<p>He turned and left before he could see Dee’s reaction, letting Logan trail beside him. On the way down the hall, Thomas paused again at the door to Patton and Virgil’s room and rapped on the wood twice, softly.</p>
<p>“Virgil, if you’re awake, we’re having breakfast downstairs.” Thomas kept his voice soft. There was a short scuffle on the other side of the door, but no verbal response was heard, so Thomas pulled back and turned to Logan.</p>
<p>“Looks like it’s just you and me, Logan.” He smiled, but Logan did not smile back. He didn’t ignore him either, though, so Thomas guessed it counted as a win.</p>
<p>“And Patton and Roman and Remus.” Logan noted.</p>
<p>Thomas did his best to not let his smile waver. Nearly half of the kids didn’t want to be there. At least.</p>
<p>“Of course.” He and Logan continued to make their way to the kitchen while thoughts swirled in the adult’s mind. He tried to shake them off. He couldn’t worry about this over their first breakfast, no matter who would be there or not. He recalled what his fostering books had said.</p>
<p>The first days were always rough, don’t push it.</p>
<p>----</p>
<p>Virgil’s hands curled into fists in the pockets of his patchwork hoodie. He felt the soft fabric of the inside of the pocket snag against the chips of his cheap black nail polish.</p>
<p>
  <i>What is he doing?</i>
</p>
<p>Thomas Sanders had dragged--or really, politely asked if they would be comfortable, and <i>Jesus Christ</i> was this guy even <i>real</i>?--the six of them to the closest supermarket for what he called a much needed shopping trip. Virgil hadn’t missed the way that Sanders’s eyes lingered for a second on Truman as he had explained how he wanted to make sure that they all had food that they liked.</p>
<p>Honestly, it was pretty funny.</p>
<p>Would have been funnier had Virgil not been so caught up in worrying about this shopping trip. What was Sanders thinking, taking six kids that he just barely knew out in public at once?</p>
<p>No foster parent that Virgil had ever been with had done something like this. Especially not on the first day. He wasn’t sure if it was stupid or endearing.</p>
<p>In a dumb sort of way.</p>
<p>Virgil got the feeling that Sanders was going to do a lot of unexpected things throughout his time as a foster parent. It was as intriguing as it was anxiety inducing. </p>
<p>Ahead of him, Virgil saw the twins run off in the direction of the first shiny thing that caught their eyes. Patton Hart immediately followed after them, promising Sanders that he would keep them safe. Beside him, the adult floundered for something to say and Virgil cringed in sympathy. After just one night of rooming with Patton, he completely understood the emotions on Sanders’s face. </p>
<p>On the other side of his current guardian, Dee stepped forward and without a word followed after Patton with what looked like some reluctance. Virgil knew exactly what was going on in his head. He didn’t want to go with the younger kids and Patton, but he still seemed to be holding his passive aggressive grudge against Sanders, so he certainly wasn’t about to stick around.</p>
<p>This left Virgil with the exasperated adult and the suspiciously silent kid in the sweater vest.</p>
<p>Sanders smiled after a moment and looked between the two of them. “Well, guys, looks like it’s just you and me for the produce section, it seems! We’ll catch up with the others later.”</p>
<p>Virgil and Logan stared back at him silently.</p>
<p>The YouTuber rubbed his hands together. “Well, what do you guys want? We can buy anything you want for dinner sometime this week… or maybe some snacks! What do you guys like to eat?”</p>
<p>“...I enjoy carrots.”</p>
<p>Virgil fought back the urge to make a face at the information. Sadly, Sanders didn’t seem to be able to do the same. While Virgil was sort of glad that his hatred of carrots was shared, the flash of barely-there devastation that flickered on Logan’s face at the disgusted expression was enough to make Virgil grimace and attempt to change the subject.</p>
<p>“Uh… I like grapes, I guess.”</p>
<p>“That’s- That’s great!” Sanders floundered, obviously having realized his mistake. “Carrots and grapes. I can do that. Let’s also get some other things for everybody else.” He glanced for a moment in the direction that the other four had disappeared, seeming to just now understand how much of an ordeal a seven person trip to the supermarket could be.</p>
<p>Virgil almost felt bad for the guy.</p>
<p>The three of them gathered produce items for the next few minutes. From a bag of baby carrots and a bunch of grapes, to several potatoes and a packet of mixed greens that Virgil knew would either turn into a screaming match with the younger kids, or go over like it was nothing. He had seen both, and honestly, he didn’t like those odds.</p>
<p>As Logan gathered a couple of apples, Virgil decided to speak up. “So, uh… where’s the camera?”</p>
<p>Thomas blinked, looking down at the teen, confused. “What do you mean, Virgil?”</p>
<p>Virgil shrugged, suddenly feeling as though he should have stayed quiet. “Y’know. The camera. Are you waiting for something?”</p>
<p>Thomas tilted his head looking genuinely miffed. “I… don’t… I didn’t bring a camera, Virgil.”</p>
<p>This time, Virgil was confused. “Why not? Isn’t this stuff, like, prime vlogging material?”</p>
<p>Thomas’s eyes widened. His eyes darted over to where Logan was meticulously examining the fruit. “Virgil, I’m not going to record anything like this.” He turned back to Virgil. “I told you when we met that I would be going on a break.”</p>
<p>Virgil’s brows furrowed. “I didn’t think you meant for this long. I thought you would want to…” He shrugged, letting his sentence trail off.</p>
<p>Thomas shook his head. “No. My channel is going to be on a break until… at least until you are all settled. Maybe longer. And I wouldn’t ever record any of you without your express consent. This isn’t a publicity stunt, I just wanted to take you guys shopping with me.”</p>
<p>Virgil was skeptical. He knew he had a right to be. Honestly it was a bit weird that he even <i>partially</i> believed Thomas. But he did.</p>
<p>Just then, Logan came back with a bag of perfectly picked apples, and the subject was dropped.</p>
<p>Virgil didn’t find it necessary to voice that some part of him admired Sanders for what he was doing, if he was going to actually follow through.</p>
<p>----</p>
<p>“I want sour gummy worms!”</p>
<p>It had been eight minutes since Thomas, Virgil and Logan had caught up with the other four, and Thomas was already beginning to wonder how Patton alone had managed to corral them for the prior twenty minutes.</p>
<p>Dee was hanging out at the end of the aisle, acting like the boxes of soda cans were the most interesting things on the earth. Patton was standing by the shopping cart with Logan and Virgil, trying to make conversation while Thomas dealt with the twins.</p>
<p>Roman stood on his tiptoes, backing up so that he could see the entirety of the candy rack before him. To his left, Remus was excitedly grabbing as many bags of sour gummy worms as he could hold. Thomas glanced back at the already filled shopping cart that Logan was dutifully guarding. </p>
<p>Thomas knew what he had said at the beginning of this shopping trip, but he was beginning to regret ever promising that he would buy whatever the kids wanted. Really, he had to get better with his word choice and forethought. Half of the cart was filled with just items for the twins, and it was beginning to worry Thomas.</p>
<p>He was supposed to say no at this point, right?</p>
<p>But, then again, he <i>had</i> said that he would get any of the kids the things that they wanted.</p>
<p>And for Roman and Remus that apparently consisted of many boxes of multi-colored cereal, some frozen chocolate chip waffles, lots of packets of <i>Jell-O</i>, and now nearly all of the candy aisle.</p>
<p>His first parental dilemma was already getting very expensive and very tooth-ache inducing.</p>
<p>“Remus-” Thomas cut himself off, worrying his lower lip between his teeth. How could he say this without going back on his word? “Are you sure that you need all of those bags of candy? How about just one?”</p>
<p>Remus turned, his arms full of sour gummy worms, and the cutest little pout already working itself onto his face. Thomas felt his heart melt. “But I need them all!”</p>
<p>Thomas knew that if he were in a cartoon he would be shifting on his feet nervously with a little animated bead of sweat running down the side of his face. “There is no way you could eat those all, you’ll get a tummy ache.”</p>
<p>“<i>Good</i>!” Remus exclaimed, scampering over and dumping the entire contents of his arms into the cart. </p>
<p>“<i>Remus</i>…”</p>
<p>“M&amp;Ms!” Roman gasped loudly.</p>
<p>Thomas could feel the age lines forming.</p>
<p>After many minutes and quite the negotiation, which Dee watched with an all too smug look on his face for being the person to pull them into the candy aisle in the first place, Thomas managed to talk the twins down to just one bag of candy each, with the added caveat that all of the other boys got to pick some candy out as well.</p>
<p>Finally, they left the sweets section and moved towards the more miscellaneous area of the market. Having learned his lesson, Thomas steered clear of the toy aisles completely.</p>
<p>Despite Thomas’s best efforts, there was a momentary ruckus in the clothing section, when Thomas completely lost track of Roman and Remus for a few minutes. After having a minor anxiety attack that he barely concealed under layers and layers of acting experience, Thomas managed to breathe and allow himself to think rationally and almost sent Patton to the front of the store to alert security. Thankfully, the twins were found by Virgil just before Thomas could alarm any of the others, hiding behind a rack of long dresses and giggling quite loudly. </p>
<p>All in all, Thomas breathed a huge sigh of relief when they got back to the house, officially finished with their shopping; Dee and Virgil disappearing almost immediately and Patton running off after the twins and their bags of sweets with Logan awkwardly trailing afterwards.</p>
<p>Even if he did have to unload the car completely alone.</p>
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